Cognard-Taluau St Nicolas de Bourgueil Les Malgagnes 2005

Three weeks in the Loire has brought a wealth of gustatory experiences for me,
not all of which were of a vinous nature - I tasted a few other epicurean
delights along the way. There were some obvious culprits, such as a wealth of
cheeses, and others that were not expected, such as a glass or two of some local
home-brewed eau de vie. A mouthful of salt shared with
Pierre-Jacques Druet, as we explored its
effect on the palates sensation of tannins was perhaps not so pleasant on the
palate but it was nevertheless highly memorable.

Nevertheless, without doubt the wines I experienced were the most memorable, not
least because with the recent 2005 vintage being a huge success for the red
wines of Anjou, Saumur and Touraine, there are a wealth of brilliant reds to be
found. Obviously these take in a small smorgasbord of varieties, including Cot,
Pinot Noir, Gamay and Pineau d'Aunis, but it was the Cabernet Franc-dominated
wines of Chinon and Bourgueil that really excited me most. After tasting a few,
it quickly became apparent that this is a truly magnificent vintage, maybe the
once-in-a-lifetime event that viticulteurs are often said to be waiting
for. As we talked one day, one such individual looked back over vintages he had
experience of, through working them or through tasting the wines, trying to find
a comparable year. He quickly skipped over the only great vintage for Loire reds
of which I have any experience, this being 1989, reaching back to cite 1947 and
perhaps 1921 as being perhaps of the same quality.

I have no knowledge at all of these ancient vintages, and so certainly wasn't
inclined to argue. Besides, if I needed any evidence of the style of the vintage
I had tasted it just the previous day, when I opened a bottle of the 2005 St
Nicolas de Bourgueil Cuvée les Malgagnes from
Lydie & Max Cognard-Taluau.
I approached the wine with no trepidation, no huge expectation, hoping for
nothing more than a some fruit, some balance, some substance, and preferably a
fresh style. What I got was one of the greatest examples of Loire Valley
Cabernet Franc I have ever experienced, and a wine that shot straight into my
list of top Cabernet Francs from anywhere. On opening the bottle the wine
releases a wave of fruit aromas, led by a vein of blackberry. In the glass it
has a fine, dark, red-black hue, and the aromas continue to waft out in waves;
the blackberries are followed by an array of crushed summer fruits, black
cherries and a little cranberry, and then the non-fruit complexity follows.
Sweet and smoky liquorice, sprinkled with white pepper. This is already
explosive and plainly delicious, but the delights only continue on the palate,
for here the wine displays a pure, seductive, silky-creamy texture intertwined
with firm and charcoaly tannins. The balance is exquisite, and with that silky
caress this wine has a set of qualities I would expect to find in much 'grander'
examples of Cabernet Franc from a certain St Emilion estate. There is fabulous
fruit richness here, and a superb, smoky, tobacco-infused finish. Pretty soon
all that is left in the bottle is a sizeable spread of tartrate crystals,
stained purple by the wine. This is undeniably one of the greatest examples of
Cabernet Franc I have ever tasted, and a wine that I have stocked up on with the
expectation that this will certainly do brilliantly in the cellar. 19+/20 (21/7/08)